comments Israel's president has asked Elon Musk to intervene in hostage release talks, in a bid to 'force a deal'. Isaac Herzog called the tech billionaire, allegedly at the request of a hostage family member, to implore him to apply pressure to those involved to secure a deal. A source close to the hostage families, who spoke with President Herzog and who is familiar with the conversation, told CNN: 'There was a chat between the President and a few hostage families, where one of the subjects discussed was influence on Trump, and Elon Musk's name came up as someone of influence on Trump. Therefore, keeping an open channel with him is important.' This comes after Donald Trump threatened that there would be 'all hell to pay' if the hostages were not released before he became president on January 20. Without mentioning Hamas by name, Trump posted online the same day: 'Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America.' Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his 'strong statement'. Trump during the campaign spoke of his plans to end different crisises in the world, including the end of Russia's war on Ukraine. 'I'll have that done in 24 hours,' he said in May 2023. Isaac Herzog called the tech billionaire, allegedly at the request of a hostage family member, to implore him to apply pressure to those involved to secure a deal Tesla CEO Elon Musk (L), co-chair of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), carries his son "X" on his shoulders, as he walks with US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (C) and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (R) Donald Trump gave Hamas or others responsible for holding hostages in the Middle East until January 20th to release them, saying otherwise there will be 'hell to pay,' On Wednesday, Israeli troops recovered the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, Alexander Dancyg, 76, Avraham Munder, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Chaim Peri, 79, and Nadav Popplewell, a 51-year-old British-Israeli dual national, along with those of six Hamas fighters, in the southern Khan Younis area. It is believed that 96 hostages still remain in Gaza, although 34 of these are presumed dead. Trump issues chilling ultimatum to Hamas if the hostages aren't released before he gets into office